Sonoma County took a step forward in reopening Friday, issuing a new health order following approval of the variance by the state. The order goes into effect Saturday morning and will allow for the operation of restaurants, breweries, wineries, and more to operate outdoors if they meet certain requirements.

“The big thing that it does is allow [these facilities] to operate outdoors, they have to offer sit-down meals” said Supervisor David Rabbitt, “that’s a good step forward for us.

Wineries, breweries, and distileries will only be able to offer outdoor sit-down dining services based on the permit for their business. The order also allows for childcare facilities to offer summer day camp programs, again following the guidelines put in place by the county’s previous health order.

Drive-in ceremonies, such as religious gatherings, as well as drive in movies are now permissible under the order and faith-based counsel is now allowed in-person if teleworking is not possible.

While Sonoma County has seen a rise in cases this week, it has also seen low impacts to its health care system with few patients hospitalized, and has kept the number of deaths low.